POL crisis may hit Chitral

Report GH Farooqui, Chitral
Leaders of all political parties here on Tuesday discussed the imminent shortage of POL products in Chitral as there is a stock left for one month only.
The participants discussed various means to solve the problem after the blockade of the Lowari pass this winter.
Tehsil Nazim Sartaj Ahmad Khan disclosed that there was an acute shortage of diesel and the district required four million litres of high speed diesel, 0.1 million litres of petrol and 0.250 million litres of kerosene.
Tahir Mehmood, in-charge of depot operations Pakistan State Oil, said they have already informed the district government about the shortage of oil. He said if the situation persisted the PSO would face billion of loss. The participants also complained that diesel was being smuggled to Afghanistan.
Leaders of different political parties like PPP, PML-N, ANP etc, suggested to contact their members of parliament to raise the issue on the floors of the assemblies for quick action and supply of oil to Chitral before the closure of Lowari top.
ACO Chitral Miftahuddin said the provincial government had been informed about the situation and it was under process.
The PSO representative informed the participants that they had millions of rupees pending against several departments; as a result, they cannot be dumping more oil until the federal government played a role for releasing their dues. The participants also expressed their concern over unavailability of oil and said the supply of wheat and other food items could not be made possible without fuel.
The participants also feared that the ongoing projects can also suffer due to the shortage of oil. They also suggested that NHA, Wapda and other departments should stock oil on their own.
The meeting was also informed that transportation of food items have also been banned via Kunar road.
The participants condemned PSO for not storing fuel as usual which led to the crisis. They decided to contact MNA and MPAs from Chitral for taking quick action on this issue. a Delegation should meet highups of PSO and provincial and Federal government in this regard.